Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The climate of fear is disgusting. I put little trust in the accuracy of the main stream media.. however in an article today the owner of the dogs was interviewed. According to the owners, the dogs (one of them an 8 month old pup) escaped from the yard and were joyriding through the neighborhood. This happens for the record. You aren't necessarily a negligent dog owner if your dog escapes your yard. Apparently accidents such as this result in police pumping the dogs full of bullets.

I am not sure what the solution is? There are many points brought up depending on who you ask. Some people think police should be trained in how to properly deal with dogs. I tend to agree with this and I do think it would help however; I still think the obvious err on the side of caution would find many joyriding dogs on the receiving end of a bullet.

Where kids in neighborhoods are involved, obviously animals will always loose the err on the side of caution. Some people fear dogs and most people have no idea how to read dogs. Add a protective parent into the mix and it is dead dog walking.

Add to this the mix of fear mongering and propaganda about dogs that "look" a certain way. Thanks again McGuinty and your filthy McNanny hooligans you call a caucus for contributing to the climate of fear in this province. Thanks for legislating dog owners into second class citizens and placing members of our families (our dogs in case you have no clue) lives in danger because people who don't know better are afraid of a dog based on description rather than behavior.

Makes me sick and ashamed to say I live in Ontario. A province that voted for nanny state; not once, but TWICE! I certainly didn't vote for the Nanny Party. There is nothing Liberal about them.

The owner of two American bulldogs gunned down by cops in an upscale Mississauga neighbourhood over the weekend vows he won't rest until he finds out why his beloved pets were "murdered."

"They were lovable animals and they never showed any aggression," Diego Vidic, 23, said of Lina, 4, and her eight month-old puppy, Fancy. "I can't sleep until I know what truly happened.

"My girlfriend's son, who is only four, has grown up with them and now he's lost his two best friends," he said.

Vidic was at a friend's home, near the QEW and Mississauga Rd., Saturday afternoon and he ducked out shortly after 5 p.m. to pick up some lumber.

He says he left his dogs locked in the backyard, unaware there was an opening in the fence. When he returned 45 minutes later, his heart sank after noticing his pets were gone.

Vidic said the first inkling his dogs, which were "not pit bulls," were in trouble came when he spotted an animal services van.

"I thought maybe my dogs had been picked up and I'd have to pay a fine," he said.

Vidic said he nearly burst into laughter when the animal services worker told him his dogs had been "aggressive" toward police officers.

But he quickly realized the man was trying to gently break the news to him.

He rushed down the street to Indian Rd. and Cobalt St., but, by the time he arrived, firefighters were "already hosing down the street" where his dogs had been killed.

"I couldn't believe it," Vidic said, explaining he talked briefly to police and then went home dumbfounded after being told his dogs had lunged at officers.

Peel police maintain the dogs, which they mistakenly claimed to be English bull terriers, were terrorizing the neighbourhood and a resident flagged down a passing OPP cruiser for help.

Parents were allegedly scooping their kids up and taking them inside because the dogs were "growling and snarling."

They were also "acting aggressive" toward other dogs, police said.

The officers tried unsuccessfully to "contain" the animals in front of St. Luke Elementary School and, in the end, decided the dogs needed to be "taken down."

The OPP officers opened fire, killing one and wounding the other. The Peel cop had to "finish the job."

Vidic returned to the scene the next day and talked to residents, some of whom told him they heard 15 to 20 shots fired at his dogs.

Steve Devoe, who lives on nearby Indian Grove, said he saw the dogs "playing" in his front yard but he didn't think much of it until he heard officers yelling for him to take his children inside.

Laila Jatoi said she saw Lina and Fancy "walking" in her neighbour's backyard, followed by an officer on foot, as her kids and other visiting children played out back with only a chain-link fence to protect them.

"The dogs weren't barking or anything," she said. "My kids weren't scared of them at all."

Her youngest son, who is four, actually squirted one of the dogs with a watergun, she said. But the dog didn't react at all.

"People were probably more terrified by the gunshots than the dogs," Jatoi said.

Some residents have filed inquiries to police about the shooting.

Moments after arriving in the area Tuesday to share his story with the Sun, two Peel officers showed up and began questioning Vidic, claiming residents had complained about his presence in the neighbourhood — a community he works in every day as a landscaper.

"You're being obsessive," said one officer, who claimed he was working the day the dogs were killed.

He accused Vidic of being in the area "day in and day out" and told him it was in his "best interest to let it go."

"If you come around here again, there will be repercussions," the officer warned, adding Vidic would be charged with trespassing or harassment.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Today MPP for Newmarket/Aurora tabled a resolution that calls for provincial oversight of the OSPCA. In 2008 the McGuinty Liberals passed an amended OSPCA Act that gave the OSPCA police powers and made this private charity accountable to no one.

I agree with Mr. Klees that the OSPCA must not be allowed to investigate themselves and must be held accountable. With public donations a huge portion of the OSPCA income, the public must be made aware of where their donation dollars are being used.

June 1, 2010 (Queen’s Park) Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees tabled the following resolution in the Ontario Legislature that if adopted, will bring the OSPCA under provincial oversight.

“That, in the opinion of this House, the Ontario Legislature call on the Government of Ontario to review the powers and authority granted to the OSPCA under the OSPCA Act and to make the necessary legislative changes to bring those powers under the authority of the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services to ensure that there is a clearly defined and effective provincial oversight of all animal shelter services in the province, and to separate the inspection and enforcement powers of the OSPCA from its functions as a charity providing animal shelter services.”

In addition to ensuring provincial oversight, the resolution also calls for the separation of the inspection and enforcement powers of the OSPCA from its functions as a charity providing animal shelter services.

"This resolution calls on the government to make the necessary legislative reforms to enact effective provincial oversight over the OSPCA and to make clear the separation of the inspection and enforcement powers of the OSPCA from its function as an animal shelter charity," said Klees.

Klees has also launched a “Petition for Provincial Oversight of the OSPCA”that can be found on his website.

McGuinty Gov’t Refuses MPP’s Call to Control OSPCA Investigation

May 17, 2010 (Queen’s Park) Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees today called on the government to take control of the investigation into the OSPCA's decision to euthanize the entire population of animals at its York Region shelter.

Dwight Duncan, the Acting Premier and MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh, refused, insisting the government has confidence in the OSPCA, and will allow the organization to oversee its own investigation.

"The Board admitted that the OSPCA staff and its so-called experts made serious mistakes that resulted in the unnecessary killing of a third of its shelter population before admitting that its euthanasia plan was unnecessary and wrong," said Klees. "Now the board is insisting that they should control the investigation into their own mismanagement. That's unacceptable and will only further erode public confidence in the organization.”

Klees wants the Minister of Public Safety to "take control of the file”, to appoint the investigator who will report back to the Minister, and to have that report tabled with the Legislature.

"Confidence can only be restored when the public is convinced that a truly independent investigation has taken place, is told the truth about what happened in York Region, and is assured that the necessary oversight is in place to ensure this can never happen again.”

ONTARIO HANSARD MAY 17, 2010

ANIMAL PROTECTION

Mr. Frank Klees: To the Acting Premier: The events of this week have undermined the public’s confidence in the OSPCA. That confidence will only be restored if the public is convinced that a truly independent investigation has taken place, is told the truth about what happened in York region, and is assured that the necessary oversight is in place to ensure that it can never happen again. That public confidence will not be restored if the OSPCA is allowed to commission and oversee its own investigation.

I’m asking the Acting Premier: Will he agree with me that the only way to restore that public confidence is for the Minister of Community Safety to appoint an independent investigator who will have that report back to him and to this Legislature—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Acting Premier?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The members of this House, and indeed all Ontarians, were deeply troubled by the circumstances last week. I believe that the government has followed the legislation carefully. The OSPCA, as I understand it, is commissioning a review of this matter with independent veterinarians and advisers. That process will yield, I suspect, recommendations with respect to how to move forward to avoid these sorts of circumstances again.

We will continue to monitor what’s happening. The independent investigation that’s going on, I believe, is appropriate in the circumstances, to help satisfy the concerns that have been expressed by so many Ontarians.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. Frank Klees: I fail to see why the government continues to let the OSPCA twist in the wind. The board admitted that that organization and its board made serious mistakes. Now the government is allowing that same board to appoint an investigator to investigate itself. This does nothing to restore public confidence.

I’m going to ask the minister one more time: Will he and his government do the right thing and take control of this file, appoint the independent investigator, require that that report comes back to the minister, not the board, and to this Legislature so that we can find out what went wrong, who was responsible and ensure this never happens again?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: I remind the member opposite that the OSPCA is an independent organization, as established by legislation that was approved by this House. There have been, over time, a number of changes to the act. Governments have recognized that animal welfare is best left to veterinarians and animal care experts.

I believe the OSPCA has taken the appropriate steps in this case, and that their findings will, hopefully, help avoid the very unfortunate circumstances that all of us witnessed last week and lead to a stronger system of protection of animals in Ontario going forward.